


the last egg

by pancakeking



Category: Spyro the Dragon (Video Games)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Development, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Might be Out of Character, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-16 16:59:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16957956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancakeking/pseuds/pancakeking
Summary: Ripto unexpectedly hatches a perfect plan for revenge.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, I know this is entire concept is a bit weird, but the basic backstory behind it is that me & some others came up with an AU wherein Ripto, the dragon-hating wizard, ends up saddled with having to raise a baby dragon, with all of the shenanigans that would entail. And Cynder would fill that role. Because why not.
> 
> ~~This is, so far, the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written...~~

Unbeknownst to the denizens of Avalar, their greatest threat was not truly vanquished. How exactly Ripto survived falling into lava was something that not even he could explain. The last thing he remembered was the excruciating pain of boiling alive - which he would rather forget - and after what seemed to be a short bout of unconsciousness, he awoke in Glimmer at nightfall, as if it was all a dream.

There was evidence on his skin to show that it wasn’t. He was terribly scarred from the burns, and his whole body ached, but he was alive. That’s all that mattered to him.

Although he was grateful for a second chance at life, he was definitely not looking forward to ever facing _Spyro_ again. So, rather than immediately making a second attempt at conquering Avalar, he decided to find ways to strengthen himself in the hopes of defeating any and all resistance when the time came to try again.

He resisted the urge to seek out his former minions, Crush and Gulp, knowing that the _real_ first step was to get out of Glimmer - and by extension, Avalar - before anyone saw him.

Taking long-term - but ultimately temporary - residence in the Forgotten Worlds, the wizard plotted, studied, and bided his time for a chance at revenge against the dragon who handed him a humiliating defeat, all the while training his magic skills.

Or rather, he would have been, were it not for the fact that there seemed to have been a serious ‘magic shortage’ occurring as of late. It wasn’t too bad at first. There were some spell failures here and there - and he had a bit of a struggle finding a powerful enough crystal to power his third scepter - and although it was frustrating, it was easy to move on from. But eventually, it started to become a problem.

A serious problem. A 'spells are now completely fizzling out or going catastrophically wrong’ problem.

For some people, it was serious enough that they’ve been sealed off from their homes due to the portals ceasing to function. He knew a thing or two about portal infrastructure, but any solution he could have offered would’ve been reliant on the presence of magic. Of which there was none.

However, it seemed the ruler of this land, an 'elegant’ and 'regal’ sorceress (whom the residents seemed to strongly dislike), had a 'plan’ to solve this problem, conveniently timed around the Year of the Dragon, as her troops began to mobilize through rabbit holes. That’s what he heard through the grapevine, anyway.

But Ripto had little reason to care, and even less reason to know about the tradition, knowing next to nothing about what this specific year had to do with any of this.

Despite his indifference, it seemed at least one aspect of the tradition was going to find its’ way to him whether he liked it or not.

One fateful night, he was awoken to the sounds of someone shuffling around nearby. Heading to investigate the noise, he found his study a mess, a window open, and what appeared to be a Rhynoc rummaging around in his armoire. Alerted to the dino’s presence, the Rhynoc closed the armoire and turned to face him, looking both shocked and sheepish, before scurrying back to the window as Ripto gave chase. The Rhynoc dove out of the window, the action being followed by a loud 'thud’ and an exclamation of pain.

Rolling his tired eyes at the foolish home-invader, Ripto decided that the problem solved itself, closed the window, and went back to bed.

The next morning was uneventful, for the most part. He spent some time reading in his study, with the events of the night before slipping his mind, until he heard something crack, and the sound of wood being struck. This sound was then followed by... scratching and thumping. Yet again, it was coming from the armoire.

Ripto put down his book, and with regrettable recognition, began sniffing the air, noticing a familiar smell wafting from it. In that moment, he felt an odd sense of dread filling up a pit in his stomach, reluctantly making the connection that he didn’t want.

Leaping from his chair, the wizard hesitantly approached the armoire, the smell becoming stronger as he did so. It was undeniable now, but a part of him wanted to believe otherwise. There was no possible way that the home-invading Rhynoc put a _dragon_ in his _armoire._ The thought itself was laughably ridiculous. _Why would something like that happen? Was this some sort of joke?_

But it wasn’t a joke, it was _real._

When Ripto tore the doors open, there it was, tumbling out onto the floor and resting at his feet. 'It’ being a baby dragon, just hatched from an egg. Its’ scales were a somewhat dark shade of magenta, and two small pairs of horns sprouted from its’ head, with a small bony spike jutting from both cheeks. It took shaky steps towards him, looking up at him with innocent turquoise eyes, and soon after, the dino’s own widened with _abject disgust_. The infant padded forward on four barely-new legs with an oddly affectionate gleam in its’ eye, as if…

“Oh _no._ ” Ripto thought aloud, while the infant nudged its’ head against his leg and curiously pawed at his feet. He knew full well how these cliche situations tended to work, and realized that he was the first thing the dragon saw. With this in mind, it probably saw him as its’ father. He pulled away from the dragon, unwilling to accept his apparent new role in its’ life.

Stumbling back into his chair in a mix of disbelief and disappointment, possibilities began swirling in the wizard’s head. How could he deal with this? What could he do?

He would love to get rid of it, but he didn’t enjoy his options very much. For one, the idea of killing a newborn was a bit extreme, even for him. Secondly, although he could put it back with its’ kind where it belonged, he couldn’t show his face to the dragons lest that _purple menace_ think he stole the egg himself and come after him again. For all he knew, if he tried to leave the dragon behind somewhere and tell it to stay put, since it might’ve imprinted on him by now, it might just follow him anyway.

Ripto was at a loss.

Coming back to reality, he noticed the little dragon had come up to rest at his feet.

How long had it been there? Ripto stared blankly at it, tempted to kick it away or remove it from his presence somehow - or at least put it somewhere that wasn’t _this close_ to him - but strangely, he hesitated.

As if struck by an idea, just crazy enough to work.

Soon after, a devious grin spread across his face, as this new idea began to take hold and sprout further in his mind. With careful planning and patience - the latter of which he would have to work on - he could raise this little dragon to be tougher, stronger, and smarter than any other. Ripto distantly recalled the phrase 'fight fire with fire,’ and knew within moments that the perfect pawn for such a plot laid there before him.


	2. a learning experience

To say the least, the first few weeks with the hatchling were difficult.

There was one benefit to having the creature around, the presence of magic started to flicker back into existence. It was a surprise at first, learning that dragons were a _source_ of magic rather than mere users of it… though in retrospect, this made perfect sense.

Other than that minor benefit, there was little else. In fact, the dragon was steadily becoming a serious thorn in his side. Then again, Ripto was still in the process of learning patience, and what better an exercise than this? A lot of things, probably, but he had a plan and he was _determined_ to see it through.

Of course, in order for this little plan of his to work, Ripto needed to know how to raise a dragon in the first place. That was the part he looked forward to the least. Not only did he harbor a strong hatred of dragons, he wasn't fond of the idea of raising _any_ children. But if he wanted this to work, he would have to learn more.

That, however, was easier said than done. Knowing that the Sorceress seemed to harbor a far deeper hatred of dragons than he did, of _course_ all extant and easily-accessible texts relating to dragons - all information on them, their lifestyles and lore - would be eradicated from any and all local libraries.

Thanks to this incredibly unique situation he found himself in, Ripto was quite displeased that his search for knowledge on this specific subject was fruitless. However, he felt he had spent a long enough time around dragons to improvise, as well as taking the time to observe the little one's behavior and figuring it out as he went along.

In a strange way, it could be said that his poor history with dragons ultimately paid off. His hatred of them didn't stem from _nothing,_ after all.

Ripto didn't spend too long lingering on the memories of his misguided youth, instead focusing on the task at hand, to raise this little pawn of his into a _beast._ The dragon was already off to a good start, for as far as he could tell, the hatchling belonged to the spiky, wild, dark-scaled, monstrous class of dragons - with which he had limited contact in the past - known as Beast Makers.

Since coming up with this plan on the day she hatched, Ripto began studying the dragon's behavior, and taking notes. One discovery he made was that the dragon was female, as evidenced by her almost-instinctively exploratory nature, among other things. Ripto remembered learning once that female dragons were usually the explorers, innovators, and active warriors of their species.

It became tiresome within moments to refer to the dragon as just 'the hatchling' in his notes, and so he decided on a name that was fitting, yet fierce; Cynder.

Cynder didn't respond to the name very much at first, but as he expected, it would take a bit of adjustment. Within a few days, it really stuck… considering she had this tendency to spit flames without a care, as if unaware that fire _burns._ He just barely managed to put the fires out before they became too bad.

Many of his belongings were partially - or, in especially bad cases, _wholly_ \- singed, damaged, or destroyed by the flames that she casually unleashed from her mouth. After days of fighting small fires and repeated scolding, Cynder finally learned that fire is dangerous, and that she shouldn't breathe fire in the house. _Took her long enough._

Another behavior of hers that Ripto wasn't fond of was how she liked to climb in, on, and around things. He quickly discovered that baby dragons are… _very_ clingy. At least, Cynder was. These two things put together often led to the little dragon climbing on _him._

In fact, she _adored_ climbing on him, much to his chagrin. Through this, he learned the hard way that even a young dragon's claws _hurt._

But she just couldn't resist, and continued to climb on him even despite his protests. Ripto knew this task wasn't going to be easy, but he'd love to get through just _one_ day without wanting to toss the dragon into the wild out of pent-up rage.

Of course, although Cynder seemed determined to push him to his limits, Ripto held himself back from doing anything especially rash. The wizard stared down at her as she began climbing up on his leg, her claws lightly piercing the fabric of his clothes and scraping against his skin, and he mumbled under his breath through sharp teeth. "You are _really_ starting to test my patience, you know that?"

As gently as he could possibly manage, Ripto wrapped his hands around the infant, who had hopped further up his body and was now clinging to the front of his shirt, and placed her back on the floor where she belonged. Hoping the dragon would understand, even at such a young age, Ripto reiterated yet another rule. "For the hundreth time, _no touching._ You do _not_ touch me, understa-"

Before he could even finish speaking, Cynder obviously didn't heed those words, immediately taking a leap and trying to climb back up onto him, claws digging into his scarred flesh through his clothes and causing him to gasp in pain. Letting out a frustrated yelp and feeling his skin crawl at the sensation, Ripto fumbled and flailed around in a desperate attempt to get the dragon off of him _again._

Cynder crept up to his shoulders, and with a flap of her little wings, leapt from his shoulders up to his head. She wrapped her stubby limbs around his horn in the hopes of escaping the wizard's reach.

This, of course, did not work. Ripto's hands, gripping tighter this time to keep her from writhing out of his grasp, pulled the troublesome pest off of his horn, her claws lightly scraping against the bone. He held the dragon in front of his face and stared down at her with a very tight scowl, hoping Cynder would get the hint _this_ time, if only because the tone of his voice was slightly harsher than before. "I said, _no touching!_ "

Thankfully, the young dragon seemed to understand, her large, apologetic eyes now staring into his own. She seemed startled by Ripto's harsh tone, and perhaps she was looking for forgiveness, or comfort. Ripto huffed, visibly unaffected by her displays, and put the dragon down on the floor once again. For the rest of the day, Cynder moped, and finally ceased trying to climb on him.

That didn't stop her from trying _again_ the next day, however. Ripto quickly figured out that this was going to be a recurring problem, but hopefully not one he couldn't fix.


End file.
